With little fanfare, the 49ers have moved on from Isaac Bruce to Josh Morgan in a bow to the imperatives of youth and promise over the declining skills of a once-great veteran.

As Bruce himself said of the man who will now be starting in his place, "He's an ascending player."

After 221 games and 1,023 receptions as a wide receiver over 16 NFL seasons, Bruce no longer is a front-line player. He has not started the last three games for the 49ers and seems likely to finish out the season as the team's third or fourth receiver.

"When I talked to Isaac about the change, he was positive about it," coach Mike Singletary said. "He said, 'I feel Josh Morgan is ready.' Isaac has been working with him to get better. I didn't expect anything different from Isaac. He's a class individual, and he's all about the team."

Bruce had little to say Tuesday as the 49ers began to prepare for Sunday's game against the Packers in Green Bay.

"That good?" he said in cutting short an interview session to less than a minute before questions of substance could be broached.

The man who will take his place in the lineup as the 49ers' starting flanker, Morgan, was not much better, although he is a willing talker.

Speaking in a virtually subsonic voice, Morgan could barely be heard from a distance of only 18 inches.

"My bad," he said.

The 49ers hope Morgan is more pronounced and assertive in his style of play than he is in his interviews.

"I talked to Josh Morgan the other day and let him know I like what he's doing," Singletary said. "Josh Morgan's extremely talented, extremely physical. There's a lot of things he can do."

One of the best things Morgan has done is listen to Bruce on matters of life and football. From all accounts, Bruce leads an exemplary life and his play on the field speaks for itself, even if he himself speaks very little.

"He's been like my personal life coach," Morgan said. "He's given me a lot of advice, just about life and on the field. He's been a big influence. The thing I need to work on is my route-running. He's one of the best route-runners ever to play the game. I've never seen anybody run routes like him. He's just a technician."

If Alex Smith manages to make the most of his second turn as starting quarterback, he'll have a pair of young receivers in second-year pro Morgan and rookie Michael Crabtree to work with and establish the kind of throw-catch symbiosis that makes all parties look good.

"I like it a lot," Morgan said of pairing with Crabtree. "I think it's going to be fun for us. We're young and hungry. We both want to be the best receivers to play the game. We're going to push each other to be better every day. It's like friendly competition."

On a team that went to its wide receivers sparingly in the first half of the season, Morgan has 23 receptions for 300 yards but Crabtree is quickly making up for lost time and has 18 catches for 215 yards.

"It's a great opportunity for Josh," Smith said. "He's always worked extremely hard. I think he's improved a tremendous amount. I feel good about Josh being out there. Those two have a great feel for the ball when it's in the air."

Two of the three interceptions Smith threw in the Tennessee game Nov. 8 were on passes for Morgan, suggesting the two need to work on their timing.